Authority still sucks but not Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven during Truckee show

A most appropriate musical video could have emerged from Camper Van Beethoven’s Aug. 31 performance at Truckee Regional Park.

While Camper played “Opie Rides Again — Club Med Sucks,” a long-haired toddler took advantage of the casual setting to circle the band, looking up curiously at singer David Lowery.

Suddenly another boy appeared on stage, no doubt the older brother. As the song sped up to a punk rock tempo and Lowery sang “authority sucks!” the big brother pulled the boy off the stage. Undaunted, the younger boy tried to re-enter the stage, but big brother stopped him again and led him away over the “authority sucks!” refrain.

The concert featured Camper Van Beethoven, an avant-garde Santa Cruz band whose heyday was in the late 1980s, and Cracker, an alternative rock band Lowery formed with guitarist Johnny Hickman after Camper disbanded in 1990.

Camper reunited a few years ago, releasing a studio album, “New Roman Times.
At Sunday’s show, along with Lowery, the rhythm section of bassist Victor Krummenacher and drummer Frank Funaro performed with both bands.

The two bands’ styles are such a contrast, it make me wonder which is Lowery’s favorite. The only similarity is Lowery’s personal and singular delivery.

Camper’s new and old material meshes well, making it seem like the 15-year hiatus was just a long break. Classics like “Take The Skinheads Bowling” and “That Was The Day That Lassie Went To The Moon” blended with Camper’s contemporary “The Long Plastic Hallway,” which Lowery explained is about playing a gig with the Talking Heads in a spaceship above Los Angeles.

Hickman emerged from his warm car to open Cracker’s set with a cover of the Dead’s “Loser.” The next song, “Mr. Wrong,” fit the ambiance of the Truckee River backdrop.

While the park is scenic, crisp weather and the occasional waft from chemical toilets clearly bothered the band.

“This smells more like Santa Cruz than Santa Cruz,” Krummenacher said.

Earlier Hickman said the songs Cracker fans most want to hear usually are “Low,” “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)” and “Eurotrash Girl,” and the band did not disappoint. During the latter track, a fan not familiar with the lyrics stopped dancing to ask her boyfriend, “Did he just say ‘case of the crabs?’ ”

Cracker highlights included the punker “100 Flower Power Maximum,” and Hickman’s “Lonesome Johnny Blues.”

The reason for the small crowd could have been the show coinciding with the Burning Man festival. Regardless, those who attended were treated to a fantastic show featuring the complex, warped, fun rock ’n’ roll that is Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven.